1. Field of the Invention
The present invention has to do with hydratable granular food products and methods for their production. In particular, the invention relates to hydratable sauces and soups which do not tend to form clumps when milk or water is added. The products of the invention generally do not require stirring before or during cooking and require minimal or no stirring following cooking to obtain a uniform homogenous product. When sauces of the invention are rehydrated in the presence of carbohydrates such as potatoes, pasta, rice and the like, however, some stirring is recommended before and after cooking.
2. The Related Art
Presently available hydratable food products require stirring when water or milk is added in order to disperse the dry particles in the liquid before cooking. Stirring also is required during cooking. For example, in a microwave application the product must be removed from the oven and stirred thoroughly at least once before it is completely cooked and then it is stirred again following cooking.
When thick food products such as hydrated sauces are cooked with other ingredients, the thickening agents, starches, gums and the like, usually cause lumps unless vigorous stirring is applied during cooking. This problem is more manifested if the hydrated sauces are prepared with carbohydrate ingredients such as pasta, potatoes, rice and the like. These problems are minimized or avoided when sauces according to the present invention are employed.
All percentages and ratios set forth herein are by weight/weight unless specifically designated otherwise.
The granular food product of the invention is hydratable to make sauces, soups or similar food products. The product is in the form of granules wherein more than about 90%, preferably more than about 98% have a particle size from about 1000 microns to about 175 microns (i.e. from about 18 to about 80 mesh based on the United States Standard [ASTME 11-61] (xe2x80x9cUSSxe2x80x9d) sieve system). In other words, more than about 90%, preferably more than about 98%, pass through an 18 mesh sieve and are retained on an 80 mesh sieve.
The granules are both hydrophilic and hydrophobic. The hydrophobic characteristic causes the particles to disperse when water or milk is added but it does not prevent the absorption of the water or milk because the particles also retain their hydrophilic character. This is contrasted with prior art hydrophilic dry mixes which absorb water rapidly and form clumps which must be physically dispersed by agitation or mixing.
Various ingredients can be employed to make the granular product depending upon the desired flavor and end use. An essential ingredient, however, is an emulsifier such as lecithin, mono or diglycerides or other food grade emulsifiers which are capable of imparting hydrophilic characteristics to the granules. Accordingly, the granular product of the invention can contain from about 2% to about 55%, preferably from about 18% to about 35%, fat or fat substitutes or a combination thereof. Other ingredients can include crystalline ingredients such as sugar, salt, citric acid and substitutes therefor; dairy ingredients such as dry milk, cheeses, cream powders and the like; spices, natural and artificial flavors, and thickening agents such as starches (native, modified, waxy, etc.) and vegetable gums.
As a first step, all of the ingredients, except for the heat sensitive ingredients and binders, are mixed in a high shear or fluid bed mixer to make a dry mixture. The dry mixture then is heated to the melting point of the fat component or up to about 3xc2x0 C. above the melting point, and then it is coated with a first binder composition to make a first particulate composition. The first binder composition is applied by spraying during mixing using it conventional means such as a high shear mixer or a fluidized bed. Spraying is conducted through a conventional nozzle. The size of the nozzle orifices will determine the size of the droplets and, accordingly, product particle size. The temperature in the fluidized bed is maintained at from about 20xc2x0 C. to about 50xc2x0 C.
The first binder composition is water or an aqueous solution which can contain as ingredients from about 0% to about 35% of soluble starch, 5-20 D.E. maltodextrin, dextrose, sugar (sucrose) or salt or any combination of two or more than two of such ingredients.
Following the formation of particulates with the first binder, the first particulate composition is dried to a moisture content of from about 2% to about 6% at a temperature from about 350xc2x0 C. to about 60xc2x0 C. using fluidized drying or drying under a vacuum to make a dried first particulate composition.
The dried first particulate composition is cooled using cool air or a cold jacketed mixer to ambient temperature or from about 15xc2x0 C. to about 40xc2x0 C. and then the heat sensitive ingredients such as natural and artificial flavors, spices and protein compounds (e.g., albumin, globulin, egg protein or whey protein concentrate) are added and mixed therewith for from about 1 to 3 minutes using a fluid bed, impeller/chopper or similar mixer. Following mixing, a second binder is applied in the same manner as the first binder. The second binder is comprised of: (1) the emulsifier and, (2) an oil and/or another first binder composition.
After the particles are coated with the second binder, they are a hydratable granular product ready for use to make a sauce or soup according to the invention. The granular product is hydrated by adding milk or water and then heating to form a uniform suspension. Before hydration, the granular product can be added to other foods, for example, pasta, potatoes, vegetables or the like. Then water is added and all of the contents are heated to prepare a ready-to-eat food in a sauce.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the granular product is employed to make a sauce for a carbohydrate food material such as pasta, potatoes, rice, cous cous, burghel or the like. In a particularly preferred application, the granular product is added to a container with microwaveable pasta. The consumer simply adds water, gently stirs, heats in a microwave oven to cook, and gently stirs the cooked product before eating.
Sauces and soups according to the invention can be made in a broad variety of flavors and textures, as long as the principles of the invention are followed as to processing conditions and the use of a second binder which provides a granulated product having the desired hydrophobic and hydrophilic characteristics. As described above, the desired hydrophobic and hydrophilic characteristics means the granular product does not tend to form clumps when water or milk at a temperature from about 5xc2x0 C. up to about 100xc2x0 C. is added. Stirring is not required before or during cooking and minimal or no stirring is required after cooking to obtain a uniform homogenous sauce or soup. In normal use, water or milk from the refrigerator at a temperature from about 5xc2x0 C. to about 15xc2x0 C. or ambient water at a temperature from about 15-30xc2x0 C. is employed and the granular product does not tend to form clumps in this temperature range from about 5xc2x0 to about 30xc2x0 C.
Granule size is important to achieve the objectives of the invention because too many fine particles causes clumps and too many large particles increases the time required for hydration. A few particles that are too big or too small can be tolerated, however, as long as more than about 90%, preferably more than about 98%, have a particle size in a range from about 1000 microns to about 175 microns. This means that more than about 90%, preferably more than about 98% of the particles, by weight, pass through a USS #18 mesh sieve and are retained on a USS #80 mesh sieve.
Various ingredients can be used to make the granular product of the invention depending upon the desired flavor and texture of the sauce or soup to be prepared when the granules are hydrated. Some of these ingredients may have their own hydrophilic or hydrophobic characteristics and this can affect the composition of the second binder and the amount of second binder required to obtain granules having the desired characteristics. Accordingly, while an emulsifier is always required as an ingredient of the second binder, the other ingredients can be, for example, water if the granules do not need any additional ingredients to impart hydrophobic characteristics. This easily can be determined by one skilled in the art based on the guidance provided herein and the known characteristics of ingredients of the granular product. Small scale routine experiments can be conducted to optimize the hydrophobic and hydrophilic characteristics of the granular product.
The granular product of the invention is made by first preparing a dry mix of desired ingredients with from about 2% to about 55%, preferably from about 18% to about 35%, fat or fat substitutes (the percentages being based on total weight of the end product, i.e., the granular product of the invention) or a combination thereof. Suitable fats are commercially available, food grade, fat powders. The desired ingredients can include crystalline ingredients such as sugar, salt, citric acid and substitutes therefor; dairy ingredients such as dry milk, cheeses, cream powders and the like; spices, natural and artificial flavors, thickening agents such as starches (native, modified, waxy, etc.) and vegetable gums and the like and any combination of the foregoing.
A mixing vessel such as a high shear or fluid bed mixer is used to make a dry mixture by admixing the fat component with all of the remaining ingredients except for the binders and heat sensitive ingredients (i.e. natural and artificial flavors, spices and protein compounds).
The dry mixture is heated to about the drop point of the fat component, i.e. to the melting point or a temperature up to about 3xc2x0 C. higher than the melting point, and then it is sprayed with a first binder solution to make a first particulate composition.
Forming particulates with the first binder solution is accomplished by spraying through a nozzle during mixing using conventional vessels for this purpose such as a high shear mixer or a fluidized bed mixer. Suitable high shear mixers include the continuous Schugi mixers available from Hosokawa Bepex Corporation, Minneapolis, Minn., USA and the Zanchetta mixer available from Zanchetta and C.s.r.L., Lucca, Italy. Suitable fluidized bed mixers are the Glatt fluidized bed available from Glatt Air Techniques, Inc., Ramsey, N.J., USA and the Niro Aeromatic available from Niro Aeromatic, Boehum, Germany. These vessels are known in the art and described in the literature. For example, use of the fluidized bed for granulating and drying is described in FLAVOR ENCAPSULATION, Chapter 17 by Jones, David M., Controlling Particle Size and Release Properties, pages 158-176, Copyright 1988, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., ACS Symposium Series 370, edited by Risch, Sara J. and Reineccius, Gary A.
The first binder is water or an aqueous solution which can contain as ingredients from about 0% to about 35% of soluble starch (e.g., any soluble modified food starch), 5-20 dextrose equivalent (xe2x80x9cD.E.xe2x80x9d) maltodextrin, dextrose, sugar (sucrose) or salt or any combination of two or more of such ingredients.
The amount of the first binder composition employed, including the water, is from about 1% to about 50%, preferably from about 10% to about 30% by weight of first binder based on total weight of the granular product of the invention.
As an example of the invention, when a fluidized bed is used to spray the first binder on the dry mixture, the binder is sprayed through a nozzle in the fluidized bed as the dry mixture is fluidized in the vessel. The orifices in the nozzle are sized so that droplets of the desired size are formed and this determines the particle size of the first particulate composition. The temperature in the fluidized bed is maintained at from about 20xc2x0 C. to about 50xc2x0 C. depending upon the melting point of the fat component, the objective being to keep the temperature close to the drop point to enhance binding.
The first particulate composition is dried to a moisture content of from about 2% to about 6% at a temperature from about 35xc2x0 C. to about 60xc2x0 C., preferably using fluidized drying or drying under a vacuum to make a dried first particulate composition.
Using cool air or a cold jacketed mixer, the dried first particulate composition is cooled to ambient temperature or from about 15xc2x0 C. to about 40xc2x0 C. Then the heat sensitive ingredients such as natural and artificial flavors, spices and protein compounds are admixed with said particulate composition. This is generally done in mixing vessel such as a fluid bed or impeller/chopper for from about 1-3 minutes. Following mixing, a second binder composition is coated on the particles by spraying through a nozzle in a fluidized bed or a high shear mixer, in the same manner as the application of the first binder composition.
The second binder composition is a solution comprised of two components. The first component is comprised of a food grade oil and/or a binder such as the first binder composition defined herein. Suitable food grade oils are those having a low linolenic acid content such as corn oil, cottonseed oil, peanut oil, olive oil and the like. Higher linolenic acid oils such as soybean oil are not recommended because they can become rancid quickly when they are sprayed. Suitable first binder compositions are all of those identified herein and they can be the same or different than the first binder composition used to prepare the first particulate composition of the invention. The second component of the second binder composition is a food grade emulsifier such as lecithin, mono or diglycerides or combinations thereof. The ratio of the first component to the second component is from about 1:0.25 to about 1:1 and the amount employed is from about 0.2% to about 2.5% based on total weight of the end product (i.e., the granular product of the invention). After the particulate composition has been coated with the second binder, it is a granulated product ready for use to make a sauce or a soup according to the invention. In some cases, if too many oversize granules are produced, all of the product is sieved through a USS #10 sieve before use according to the invention. Further sieving may be done, if necessary, but no sieving should be needed once the processing conditions have been optimized.
Some examples of the invention are set forth below.